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1943 Map of Badger Pocket

Name: 1943 Topographic Map of Badger Pocket
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1943
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1943

About this map

The Kittitas Valley is defined here by an intricate network of irrigation engineering and rail infrastructure during the mid-1930s. The Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul and Pacific railroad cuts across the northern landscape, serving agricultural hubs like Kittitas and East Kittitas, while gravity-defying water works such as the Cascade Canal, Town Canal, and Gravity Ditch illustrate the intensive transformation of this arid region into productive farmland.

Southward, the terrain shifts into the broken coulees and ridges of Badger Pocket and Umptanum Coulee, leading down to the winding Yakima River. Local life is anchored by community landmarks like Denmark Hall and the Broadview Sch, while industry is represented by the Silica Mine and the Wippel Pumping Sta. This survey provides a look at the transition from valley floor to the canyonlands of Vanderbilt Gap and Coleman Canyon before the modern interstate system altered the local travel patterns.